Shaping the Future of Operations: A Conversation with Steve Cooper
As the demand for high‑quality content accelerates across every platform, the role of operations has never been more critical to creative success. As part of our commitment to this new demand, in February, Steve Cooper stepped into the role of EVP, Operations US. With a career built inside production studios, post‑production environments, and global content operations, Steve brings deep expertise in scaling creative work, strengthening workflows, and enabling teams to deliver at their best.
In this conversation, he shares how his background has shaped his approach to operational excellence, what excites him most about joining POP, and why he believes the future of production lies at the intersection of creativity, technology, and global collaboration. From the impact of AI to the cultural foundations that help teams thrive, he offers a clear vision of how strong operations can unlock the next chapter of POP’s growth.
Read to find out more.
Can you share a bit about your professional background and experiences?
My background is rooted in production and creative operations. I’ve spent much of my career working inside production environments, studios, post-production, and content operations, helping teams scale creative work while improving structure, workflow, and commercial discipline.
Over time, my focus shifted toward operations: building teams, implementing better systems and technology, and making sure organizations can deliver high-quality creative work efficiently and at scale.
You’ve just been appointed as EVP, Operations for POP in the US. What excites you most about stepping into this new role?
The opportunity to help shape the next generation of production is the most exciting part of it, from my perspective. Clients need better content, faster and across more platforms than ever before. POP sits at the intersection of creativity, technology, and scale, and there’s a real opportunity to evolve how we operate so we can move with speed, work smarter, and fully leverage our global network.
How do you define operational excellence in the context of POP’s business model?
Operational excellence is about removing friction so creativity can thrive. That means clear structures, strong production management, disciplined financial oversight, and workflows that move work smoothly from brief to delivery. It also means using our global network effectively, with our borderless studio model ensuring the work stays relevant. It keeps high-value creative close to clients while leveraging global teams for scale and adaptation. The job of operations is to truly make the limits between teams disappear and make work between them feel frictionless.
Looking back at your career, what leadership lessons have had the greatest impact on how you approach operations today?
The biggest lesson is that clarity drives performance. When teams understand the goal, the process, and their role in it, they move faster and make better decisions. I’ve also learned that operations shouldn’t restrict teams – it should enable them by giving people the tools, structure, and trust to do their best work.
How do you see operational excellence supporting the company’s long‑term vision?
Operational excellence turns strategy into execution, allowing the business to scale, deliver consistently, and support larger and more complex client needs. Strong operations create the foundation that allows creativity, technology, and talent to grow together.
Our long-term vision at POP is one of a truly global, borderless network, where the work drives every aspect of our processes. We are committed to addressing clients’ modern challenges in every form – and operational excellence supports this problem-solving as part of an integrated ecosystem. We’re not siloed – we are truly integrated. Every part works in tandem with every other part, all in service of great production work for our clients.
In a crowded market, how can strong operations create a meaningful competitive advantage?
Clients today expect creativity, but also speed, scale, and efficiency. Organizations with strong operations can deliver high-quality content faster and more cost-effectively. When you combine creative excellence with smart workflows, automation, and global production capabilities, you create a powerful competitive advantage. But POP goes further – our operational model is also driven by audience-first insights, keeping the end goal constantly in mind throughout the production process. This is a powerful differentiator.
Culture plays a major role in operational success. What’s the best way to foster collaboration across teams?
The strongest cultures today are built around modern, like-minded product and production experts who embrace new technology, particularly AI, and are motivated by building and winning together. When teams share that mindset, collaboration becomes natural.
POP leans into the instinct of collaboration at our very core. We are a truly global network, committed to a borderless studio model that allows teams across the world to share expertise and work together. This affects not only our operations, but also the efficiency of the work delivered. Facilitating better work, faster – that’s what operational excellence is all about.
How do you see AI shaping the future of operations – and how can teams navigate it?
The key is that AI isn’t the responsibility of a handful of specialists, it’s now part of everyone’s role across the business. It stretches from New Business and how we sell to Client Services driving organic growth, all the way through to producers and project managers scoping work in smarter ways. Clients rely on us to help them navigate the constantly shifting world of AI with equal parts enthusiasm and care, protecting brand integrity and ensuring proper governance while always prioritizing craft and creativity. That’s why we created Vermeer.ai, the solution designed by POP to support human creativity and address key challenges of AI including legal usage, precision control of outputs, and democratization at speed. Vermeer.ai combines our expertise with the latest GenAI models to helps us deliver better, faster, and more secure content to clients, while keeping humans in control. In the end, the best work still comes from talented people who understand cultural nuance, powerful storytelling and audience behaviour. And this mindset is integrated throughout our ecosystem – which makes it easier for operational teams to embrace it as well.
Want to know more about the next chapter of POP in the US? Check out the latest news here. Don’t forget to keep up with all the latest POP news, inspiration, business, and more by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram!
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